'The Law and Economics of Class Actions in Europe marshals an impressive array of expertise from both sides of the Atlantic to illuminate the debate over class action litigation. This volume is a valuable addition to the literature on class actions in both the US and Europe.' – Jennifer Arlen, New York University, School of Law, US 'The availability and performance of class actions is a fundamental question being addressed in many legal systems. Class actions offer a rare opportunity for individuals with small losses to obtain redress against large companies and may provide important incentives to comply with the law. Effective class actions that provide these benefits exist in few countries. This book assembles leading scholars from around the world to provide important new insights into the theory and practice of this important legal procedure.' – Theodore Eisenberg, Cornell University, US This well-documented book discusses the power and limitations of class actions with insights and analysis from a panel of distinguished scholars. It pays special attention to the introduction and the applicability of such a legal device in European civil law countries. The book offers a broad legal and economic investigation, drawing insights from US judicial experience and giving a rigorous discussion of both the philosophical and constitutional aspects and the economic mechanisms and incentives set up by class actions. The Law and Economics of Class Actions in Europe will be a welcome addition to the bookshelf of all those interested in the function of class action litigation for promoting justice and efficiency. In particular, it will benefit graduate and postgraduate students, researchers and academics in law, economics, and law and economics, policymakers, judges and attorneys.

This book focuses on the changing landscape of class action law and its interaction with the economic analysis of key issues in class actions. Articles examine the elements of class action law from diverse viewpoints, featuring defendant and plaintiff perspectives, concerning domestic and international law, and written by lawyers and economists.

Law can be viewed as a body of rules and legal sanctions that channel behavior in socially desirable directions - for example, by encouraging individuals to take proper precautions to prevent accidents or by discouraging competitors from colluding to raise prices. The incentives created by the legal system are thus a natural subject of study by economists. Moreover, given the importance of law to the welfare of societies, the economic analysis of law merits prominent treatment as a subdiscipline of economics. Our hope is that this two volume Handbook will foster the study of the legal system by economists. *The two volumes form a comprehensive and accessible survey of the current state of the field. *Chapters prepared by leading specialists of the area. *Summarizes received results as well as new developments.

This is one of the first volumes that uses economic tools to analyse and evaluate law and policy in India. Applying economic theories such as incentive analysis, cost–benefit studies, and game theory, the essays in the volume negotiate contentious issues in law including property, contracts, torts, nuclear liability regime, bankruptcy law, criminal law and procedure, constitutional law, administrative law, environmental law, and family law. A radical take on commercial and socio-legal issues in India, this book will greatly interest scholars and researchers of law, political economy, and public policy.

Covering over one-hundred topics on issues ranging from Law and Neuroeconomics to European Union Law and Economics to Feminist Theory and Law and Economics, The Oxford Handbook of Law and Economics is the definitive work in the field of law and economics. The book gathers together scholars and experts in law and economics to create the most inclusive and current work on law and economics. Edited by Francisco Parisi, the Handbook looks at the origins of the field of law and economics, tracks its progression and increased importance to both law and economics, and looks to the future of the field and its continued development by examining a cornucopia of fields touched by work in law and economics. The uniqueness of its breadth, depth, and convenience make the volume essential to scholars, students, and contributors in the field of law and economics.

Law and economics can be considered as the most exciting development in legal scholarship in recent decades. This volume is the first all-encompassing bibliography in this area. It lists approximately 7000 publications, covering the whole area of law and economics, including `old' law and economics (topics such as antitrust law, labor law, tax law, social security, economic regulation, etc.) as well as `new' law and economics with such topics as tort law, contract law, family law, procedure, criminal law, etc.). The volume also includes the literature on the philosophical foundations and the fundamental concepts of the approach. Part Two gives a special survey of law and economics publications in Europe, written in other languages than English. The Bibliography of Law and Economics is an invaluable reference work for students, scholars, lawyers, economists and other people interested in this field.

In the internet age, the need for effective consumer law enforcement has arguably never been greater. This timely book is a comparative law and economic analysis of the changing landscape of EU consumer law enforcement policy. EU member states are moving away from purely public or private law enforcement and now appear to be moving towards a more mixed approach, not least due to European legislation. This book reflects on the need for and creation of efficient enforcement designs. It examines the various economic factors according to which the efficiency of different enforcement mechanisms can be assessed. Hypothetical case scenarios within package travel and misleading advertising, dealing with substantial individual harm and trifling and widespread harm are used to illustrate various consumer law problems. Design suggestions on how to optimally mix enforcement mechanisms for these case scenarios are developed. The findings are then used as a benchmark to assess real life situations in countries with different enforcement traditions - the Netherlands, Sweden and England. The book is of value to both researchers and policy-makers working in the area of consumer protection.

This book studies the funding problems with shareholder litigation through a functionally comparative way. In fact, funding problems with shareholder lawsuits may largely discourage potential shareholder litigants who bear high financial risk in pursuing such a claim, but on the other hand they may not have much to gain. Considering the lack of incentives for potential shareholder claimants, effective funding techniques should be in place to make shareholder actions function as a corporate governance tool and discipline corporate management. The book analyzes, among others, the practice of funding shareholder litigation in the Australia, Canada, the UK, the US and Israel, and covers all of the typical approaches being used in financing shareholder litigation in the current world. For instance, Israel and Canada (Quebec and Ontario) are probably unique in having a public funding mechanism for derivative actions and class actions, while Australia is the country where third party litigation funding is originated and is growing rapidly. Based on this comparative research, the last part of this book discusses how to fund shareholder litigation in China in context of its social and legal background and what kind of problems need to be solved if certain funding techniques are used.

This collection explores the practical operation of the law in the area of litigation costs and funding, and confronts the issue of how exposure to cost risks affects litigation strategy. It looks at the interaction of the relevant legal regime, regulatory framework and disciplinary rules with the behaviour of litigants, courts and legislatures, examining subjects such as cost rules and funding arrangements. The book discusses a wide range of topics such as cost-shifting rules, funding and mass tort litigation, cost rules and third-party funding (TPF) rules in specific areas such as intellectual property (IP) litigation, commercial arbitration, investment arbitration, the role of legal expense insurance arrangements, fee regulation and professional ethics. The contributors include renowned scholars, experts in their respective fields and well-versed individuals in both civil procedure and the practice of litigation, arbitration and finance. Together, they present a broad approach to the issues of costs, cost-shifting rules and third-party funding. This volume adds to the existent literature in combining topics in law and practice and presents an analysis of the most recent developments in this fast developing area.

This book undertakes unique case studies, including interviews with participants, as well as empirical analysis, of public and private enforcement of Australian securities laws addressing continuous disclosure. Enforcement of laws is crucial to effective regulation. Historically, enforcement was the province of a government regulator with significant discretion (public enforcement). However, more and more citizens are being expected to take action themselves (private enforcement). Consistent with regulatory pluralism, public and private enforcement exist in parallel, with the capacity to both help and hinder each other, and the achievement of the goals of enforcement in a range of areas of regulation. The rise of the shareholder class action in Australia, backed by litigation funding or lawyers, has given rise to enforcement overlapping with that of the government regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The ramifications of overlapping enforcement are explained based on detailed analysis. The analysis is further bolstered by the regulator's approach to enforcement changing from a compliance orientation to a “Why not litigate?” approach. The analysis and ramifications of the Australian case studies involve matters of regulatory theory and practice that apply across jurisdictions. The book will appeal to practitioners, regulators and academics interested in regulatory policy and enforcement, and the operation of regulators and class actions, including their interaction.